Cook For Me
by CreativePunk77
Summary: Series Three. In order to prove to Ingrid how much he cares for her, Harvey tasks himself with cooking a romantic meal for two.


**COOK FOR ME**

Ingrid watched her boyfriend in amusement as he poked at the food presented before him. The gloopy sauce wobbled, and Harvey grimaced in disgust.

"Ing, _what is this?"_

She grinned in return. "It's my special sauce."

"What's special about it?"

"Ah," She tapped her nose twice. "The special bit is that _I'm_ the only one who knows what's in it."

Harvey rolled his eyes. "That doesn't sound very special."

"Oi!" Ingrid flung her spoon at him. "Says the guy who has _special needs."_

"That wasn't very nice, Ing." Harvey muttered, wounded by the insensitive remark.

His girlfriend snorted. "Whatever. Just eat my food."

She shovelled her meal into her mouth, Harvey open mouthed.

* * *

Ingrid had cleared her plate when the conversation started up again.

"Let me cook dinner for you next time."

"You, cook?" She snorted. "Don't make me laugh, Harv. You couldn't cook toast, you're so bad."

"Hey, I'm not _that_ bad _._ Mandy's been teaching me, and I helped Ian with that cake the other day."

"Oh, yeah. The lemon and mint one with candyfloss on it?" Ingrid stuck out her tongue in revulsion. "I swear Ian's the new Heston Blumenthal."

"S'pose… Please let me cook for you, sweetie. I'll do a romantic meal for us."

"We could just go to a restaurant though… Oh, alright. You can cook a meal for us, but I'm warning you, babe. You burn the food and you'll be getting no kisses from Ing-Ing. _And_ I'll avoid you when we next go to the Cybercafé."

Harvey nodded. "Ok, deal. Tomorrow, I'll be the Chef."

* * *

"Oh man, oh man, how do you turn on the stove?"

He fiddled with the dials, shrieking as a blue flame lit up on the stove. "AH! MANDY! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Mandy rushed into the kitchen at her friend's shouting, giggling at the sight in front of her. "Oh, Harvey, you've just turned the stove on, at multiple points actually. Here."

She moved over and gently brushed him aside, letting all but one of the flames die out.

"Okay, fill up a saucepan for me, then put it on top of the flame."

Harvey winced. "But wouldn't it set alight?" He paused. "Wait, fill the saucepan with what?"

Any other member of SPLAT would have laughed at his idiocy, but Mandy simply smiled warmly.

"Water, and don't worry, the pan won't melt."

"Ah, gotcha." He went over to a cupboard and pulled out a saucepan, filling it with water from the sink, then moving back over to the stove and placing the saucepan on top of the flame.

"Right. Next, we'll get the pasta-"

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on, what are you doing?"

Mandy shot him a confused look. "I thought you were making spaghetti bolognaise?"

"I am, but I want to do it myself." Suddenly, Harvey blushed. "I mean, I w-want to prove to Ingrid that I can cook and if she finds out I had help-"

"It's alright, Harvey, I get what you mean." Mandy backed away from the stove and gestured to the printed out recipe on the side. "You're sure you can handle that? Just let me know if you need any help."

"Thanks Mandy, but I want to show Ingy that I can do _anything_ for her."

"That's so cute." His friend beamed brightly. "Ingrid's so lucky to have you. You're such a caring boyfriend to her."

"Well, when you're dating Ingrid Smith, you've got to be caring. Otherwise, she ends up giving you a tongue lashing."

* * *

As the mince browned and the pasta bubbled, someone joined Harvey in the kitchen. Ian sidled over to Harvey and picked up a jar of jam along the way.

"Hey, Harv. Add this, it makes it tastier."

Spotting the jam, Harvey screamed. "NO! GET AWAY!" He batted the jam away and hissed at Ian.

"Leave the food alone. I can't mess it up. _This is for_ _Ingrid!"_

Ian pouted and put the jam away. "Okay, but you're missing out…"

* * *

An hour later, and a massive pile of mess was dumped into the sink, awaiting to be washed up, as Harvey finished dishing up the meal onto two plates. He fumbled with the portions, smoothing a piece of kitchen roll round the edges of the plates to wipe away any stains. He sprinkled some grated cheese, fresh herbs and black pepper on top of the steaming food and then quickly rushed upstairs to change.

Harvey thumped down the stairs, opened the front door as soon as the doorbell rang and ushered Ingrid into the kitchen.

"I've just finished it, so sit down and let me get you your food."

Ingrid, clad in a summer dress with her hair pinned up, sat down and smiled. "Thank you, baby and wow, I can't believe you actually made food for me."

Harvey placed Ingrid's meal in front of her before putting his own down in front of his seat. He grinned at his girlfriend, before taking out a box of matches and lighting up the candle that was centred on the table. Setting the box aside, he took his seat and tucked a napkin into the neck of his long sleeved shirt.

"Tuck in, Ing-Ing."

* * *

"Oh my god, that was delish. Can I have more?"

Harvey looked up, sauce all round his mouth. "There's none left. We ate it all."

At the state of his face, Ingrid laughed and sprung to her feet. She moved round next to him and bent down, so that they were face to face. She leant in and sucked the sauce from his lips, her fingers picking up a lone strand of spaghetti from Harvey's plate and dangling it between their lips.

"Do the scene from Lady and the Tramp."

Harvey smiled lazily, and as they gobbled up the strand of spaghetti, their lips touching, Ian and Mandy watched from the doorway, both of them smiling.

"I'm proud of Harvey. Now, he can show Ingrid how much he cares about her, even more."

"Yeah," Ian sighed. "Still think he should have put jam in the pasta though."


End file.
